Quite simply, the best Western journalist at work in Iraq today. -- Seymour Hersh Accessible . Cockburn describes a continuing tragedy in which hubris and optimism destroyed a seemingly promising revolution. * New York Times * Amid the many books published on the current conflicts reshaping the Middle East, few are as informative or perceptive asThe Rise of Islamic State. * Observer * Patrick Cockburn has produced the first history of the rise of the Islamic State . No one is better equipped for this task . Indispensable. * Daily Telegraph * Patrick Cockburn spotted the emergence of ISIS much earlier than anybody else and wrote about it with a depth of understanding that was just in a league of its own. Nobody else was writing that stuff at that time, and the judges wondered whether the Government should consider pensioning off the whole of MI6 and hiring Patrick Cockburn instead. -- British Journalism Awards judges A wonderful book. -- Yasmin Alibhai-Brown * BBC News * Excellent. -- Richard Norton-Taylor * Guardian * His dispatches from Iraq are an exemplary untangling of the political and social complexity that lies behind one of the world's great crises. He writes fairly, compassionately and clearly, with a steady and knowledgeable eye. -- Orwell Prize judges Patrick Cockburn, of the LondonIndependent, is one of the best informed on-the-ground journalists. He was almost always correct on Iraq. -- Sidney Blumenthal, in an email to Hillary Clinton Authoritative. * Washington Post * Has anyone covered this nightmare [in the Greater Middle East] better than the world's least embedded reporter, Patrick Cockburn? Not for my money. He's had the canniest, clearest-eyed view of developments in the region for years now. -- Tom Engelhardt * TomDispatch * Packed with first-class research and analysis . Cockburn draws on his considerable journalistic prowess to render this incredibly complex and misunderstood conflict comprehensible. His experience forms a useful text for those at all levels of familiarity with the conflict. His analysis offers an exceptional window into what is without doubt the most vital conflict the world is currently facing. -- Hans Rollman * PopMatters * A brilliant book on ISIS. -- Tom Holland * The Andrew Marr Show * An invaluable history of IS along with a powerful critique of Western policy in Iraq and Syria and an unsparing analysis of Shia politics in Baghdad. -- Hugh Roberts * London Review of Books * The essential primer on the organization. * Vice *